Overview

• Mayor Eric Adams and DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced the city’s first autonomous-vehicle testing approval, allowing up to eight cars to begin operating immediately through late September with an option to seek an extension.
• Testing is confined to parts of Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn using Jaguar I‑Pace SUVs, and New York state law requires a trained safety operator in the driver’s seat at all times.
• Under the permit, operators must be ready to take control, with TechCrunch noting the driver must keep at least one hand on the wheel during operations.
• Waymo cannot pick up passengers during the pilot, as taxi-style service would require a separate license from the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission.
• The company must report data regularly to the DOT, coordinate with law enforcement and emergency services, certify cybersecurity practices, and it has also secured required state DMV approvals after manual mapping and data collection in 2021 and July 2025.